Steve
Miller Backstage at the Metropolitan Museum June
30th.
"Les
Paul's D'Angelico guitar is the most amazingly
sweet sounding guitar I've ever played!"photo:
David Woo
Live
show at the Metropolitan
Museum June 30th
L-R
John Colianni on piano, Gordy Knudtson on drums,
Steve Miller on guitar, Gary Mazzaroppi on bass,
Howard Alden on guitar and special guest Dillon
Brown from KIDS ROCK FREE on guitar. photo:
David Woo
"Let Your Hair Down" New
Album from the Steve Miller Band. Available now
on Miller's own Space Cowboy Records.
Following last year’s
No. one blues album, “Bingo!,” recently nominated as
blues rock album of the year by the Blues Foundation,
the Steve Miller Band follows that success with another
new album, “Let Your Hair Down,” due April 19 from
Space Cowboy/LoudandProud/Roadrunner Records.
“Let Your Hair Down” features the last recordings by
harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo, Miller’s “partner
in harmony” for thirty-three years. Noted Pink Floyd
album cover artist Storm Thorgerson, who also did the
wonderfully whimsical cover to “Bingo!,” returns to
“Let Your Hair Down” with one of the great album covers
of his career. Miller, whose new album shines with
some of the finest guitar playing he has ever recorded,
will make a special appearance with jazz guitar greats
Jim Hall, Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden on February
12 in a concert celebrating the opening of the exhibit,
“Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen From Italy To New
York,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City. Three custom-made archtop guitars by luthier
James D’Aquisto from Miller’s personal collection are
included in the exhibit.
Prior to the release of “Let Your Hair Down,” the Steve
Miller Band will perform material from the album at
a gala concert opening the new multi-million dollar
performance facility built for the long-running music
TV series, “Austin City Limits,” on February 24. Two
days later, the band will tape the first show of the
coming season in the new theater, while the streets
outside are closed off and a huge party and free concert
takes place.
To launch the release of “Let Your Hair Down” in high
style, Miller also plans a series of theater and small
arena dates in mid-April through the South and East
Coast with Gregg Allman, whose new solo album, “Low
Country Blues,” is one of the best-received releases
of his career, a combination that could produce some
rip-roaring jam sessions onstage.
The new album caps one of the busiest years of Miller’s
accomplished career. In addition to the release last
year of the acclaimed first new Steve Miller Band album
in seventeen years (“cause for celebration,” said The
Huffington Post), Miller not only led a sold out tour
across the United States and Canada, but returned to
Europe for the first time in more than twenty-five
years for a triumphant round of dates culminating in
a sold out Royal Albert Hall concert in London, filmed
for DVD release.
One of rock music’s all-time greats, the Steve Miller
Band has sold more than 30 million records in a career
spanning more than 40 years. His trademark blues-rock
sound made him one of the key artists in classic rock
radio. He is the Gangster of Love. Some people call
him Maurice, the Midnight Toker or the Space Cowboy.
And, as “Let Your Hair Down” so aptly demonstrates,
Stevie “Guitar” Miller still speaks in the pompitus
of love. (home) | Best
Buy Sale
REVIEWS - Steve Miller
Band "Let Your Hair Down"
Miller takes a joyous
trip through his blues-rock past
Cut during the sames
sessions that produced last year's Bingo! (the
Steve Miller Band's first new album in 17 years), Let
Your Hair Down is full of songs that have been
in Miller's DNA since he was a rookie sitting in at
blues clubs with Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. He howls
over gritty slide guitar on Waters' "Can't Be Satisfied"
and lets his guitar run wild on Willie Dixon's "Pretty
Thing." The Peak? A joyous take on Jimmy Reed's "Close
Together," which stresses companionship in a mean old
world. Let Your Hair Down is familiar territory,
but Miller is clearly having a blast. by
Patrick Doyle.
Now Playing: "I
Got Love If You Want It" the new single from "Let
Your Hair Down" and a second video 2. Steve is
interviewed about the making of the album.
Steve
Miller plays Les Paul's guitar at the New York Met
Museum's final concert honoring "Guitar Heroes"...
Grace
Rainey Rogers Auditorium June 30th
Steve Miller
returned to the Met June 30 for a final evening of
guitar music. Under the musical direction of John
Colianni, pianist of long-standing with the Les Paul
Trio, Miller was joined by noted jazz guitarist Howard
Alden and other special guests (see adjacent photo
for lineup) at the museum’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.
The Les
Paul Foundation provided Steve with Les Paul's
D'Angelico (pictured) to play during the
show. Les, the legendary musican, showman, guitar
and recording innovations inventor, who was also
Steve's godfather, passed away in 2009 at age 94.
The exhibit, “Guitar Heroes: Legendary
Craftsman From Italy To New York,” runs
through July 4 at the museum.
Les Paul's D'Angelico guitar. Photos
Courtesy of the Les Paul Foundation
